Pathfinder 1E Rule question: Wild Shape and size change

[Lexeme]

Our druid Billy is a human. Billy has three baddies in front of him. If we're looking top down at a battlemap with Billy in the center, the baddies are at NW, N, and NE.

Behind Billy are three allies, located at SW, S, and SE.

Billy doesn't like this situation. Time to Wild Shape. Billy chooses to shapeshift into a Tendriculos, a huge creature. What happens?

I have searched for a RAW answer, but I struggle to find one.

 

[Derfmancher]

I am not familiar with a rule to deal with this either. Personally I would enforce it like a spell that did not have a duration long enough to get all the way through a wall. The nearby creatures are all pushed back, and remain adjacent to Billy, but they all (including Billy) take some impact damage (call it 2d6 in my book, because he is going huge rather than large.).

 

[Squire James]

All adjacent creatures are harmlessly pushed back to an empty square, chosen randomly if someone cares. If no such spaces exist, that creature remains in the same square and both the caster and that creature suffer penalties from "squeezing" (which I think is something like -4 to attacks and lose Dex bonus to AC).

 

[Lexeme]

All adjacent creatures are harmlessly pushed back to an empty square, chosen randomly if someone cares. If no such spaces exist, that creature remains in the same square and both the caster and that creature suffer penalties from "squeezing" (which I think is something like -4 to attacks and lose Dex bonus to AC).

Is that based on something in the rules or just how you play it?

PS - Thanks both of you for replies.

 

[Squire James]

I should have mentioned that's the way I play it... the rules themselves are silent on the matter. There's nothing saying the location of the Medium subject has to act as a center point of the Huge subject, but it makes sense from a "slowly growing over the course of several seconds" standpoint.

If the allies don't mind being pushed back some more, I'd let the Huge creature occupy space in front of the 3 enemies without moving them (which might be better from a tactical perspective). If I felt this was abusing the movement rules, I might rule that the movement counts against their speed next round similar to how the Step Up feat works.

 

[Lexeme]

I think I'll require a strength contest to push back unwilling opponents. (Your allies could choose to contest, as well, I suppose) Success=pushback. Failure=the druid has to squeeze.

 

[JDragon]

As mentioned the rules are silent on this exact issue, however their are RAW that I think would apply, and they are located in the spell description of Enlarge Person.

From the SRD...
If insufficient room is available for the desired growth, the creature attains the maximum possible size and may make a Strength check (using its increased Strength) to burst any enclosures in the process. If it fails, it is constrained without harm by the materials enclosing it—the spell cannot be used to crush a creature by increasing its size.
...

So I think the call for a Str check or maybe CMB for Bull Rush against people or creatures in the way. I would however not allow the forced movement to provoke AoO's. The one question would be would they have to beat all of them or just enough to make space for the move?

JD

 

[Lexeme]

As mentioned the rules are silent on this exact issue, however their are RAW that I think would apply, and they are located in the spell description of Enlarge Person.

From the SRD...
If insufficient room is available for the desired growth, the creature attains the maximum possible size and may make a Strength check (using its increased Strength) to burst any enclosures in the process. If it fails, it is constrained without harm by the materials enclosing it—the spell cannot be used to crush a creature by increasing its size.
...

So I think the call for a Str check or maybe CMB for Bull Rush against people or creatures in the way. I would however not allow the forced movement to provoke AoO's. The one question would be would they have to beat all of them or just enough to make space for the move?

JD

Thanks for pointing to Enlarge Person. I did notice that when searching (for an embarrassingly long time) through the SRD. It's why I figured a STR contest makes sense. I definitely agree, no AoO. I would probably make the Druid beat them all.

Bull Rush is interesting... may have to consider that instead.

Thanks!

 

[Ashtagon]

The speed growth really isn't fast enough to cause damage. Consider a brisk walking space is probably ten feet per second. That's about the same as the speed at which your druid is growing outward, assuming the growth happens over one second. No one (healthy) ever died from being bumped into in a busy train station, so 2d6 damage is plainly ridiculous.

Equally, it's not bullrush, since that implies the potential to knock the target back dozens of feet on a good roll. I've been checked by being bumped into at a station, but never knocked flying a dozen feet away.

I'd rule that any creature in the space can make a free 5-foot step out of the character's new space, without provoking opportunity attacks. If they choose to remain in place, they are (druid included) automatically considered to be grappled.